2146 



NIGELLA 



NOLANA 



flower earlier the next summer. By planting at differ- 

 ent seasons the plants may be continued in beauty 

 nearly throughout the summer. The seeds of N. saliva, 

 Linn., or black cummin, are sometimes used as season- 

 ing in the Old World. 



damascena, Linn. Fig. 2482. Height 1-2 ft.: Ivs. 

 bright green, very finely cut: fls. white or blue, large; 

 involucre very dense and fine; styles erect in the fr., 

 nearly as long as the caps.: fr. not divergent at top. 

 Summer. S. Eu. B.M. 22. Gn. 37, p. 130; 63, p. 165. 

 J.H. III. 51:61. Gn.M. 5:296. Var. nana, Hort. A 

 dwarf form with very large fls. 



hispanica, Linn. Lvs. much divided, but less so than 

 in the preceding: fls. deeper blue than the last, with 

 deep red stamens; involucre absent; styles rather 

 spreading: fr. divergent at top. July. Spain and N. 

 Afr. B.M. 1265. Gn. 37:130. Var. Fontanesiana, 

 Hort. (2V. Fontanesiana, Hort.). Much like the type, 

 but said to flower 2 weeks earlier. Var. alba, Hort. 

 Plant 18 in. tall: fls. white. Var. atropurpftrea, Hort. 

 Fls. purple. 



integrifolia, Regel. Lvs. less divided than either of 

 the above species: fls. differing in being bell-shaped. 

 Cent. Asia. B.M. 8245. G.C. III. 44:227. 



K. C. DAVIS. 



NIGGER-TOE: Nuts of Bertholletia. 



NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS: Cereus, and other genera 

 mentioned on p. 721. 



NIGHTSHADE: Solanum nigrum. Deadly N.: Atropa Bella- 

 donna. Enchanter's N. : Circxa. Three-leaved N. : Trillium. 



NINE-BARK: Physocarpus. 



NINTOOA (East Indian name). A name proposed 

 in 1830 by Robert Sweet for certain species of Lonicera 

 (see page 1910). N.japonica, Sweet=Lonicerajaponica. 



NIP A (native name in Molucca). Palmacese. One 

 species of palm widespread along tidal rivers and estu- 

 aries, Ceylon to the Philippines and Australia, the great 

 leaves much used in thatching, and the fruit edible. 



Trunks or rootstocks prostrate, gregarious: Ivs. pin- 

 natisect, 10-30 ft. long, from the ends of the rootstocks; 

 Ifts. numerous, rigid, plicate, lanceolate, long-acumi- 

 nate, 2-3 ft. long: fls. monoecious, in an erect infl. spring- 

 ing from the rootstock; male fls. small, in catkin-like 

 lateral branches of the spadix, stamens 3; female fls. 

 larger, in terminal globose heads, the carpels 3: fr. 

 large and spherical (as large as a man's head), com- 

 prised of many carpels or drupes 4-6 in. long. Toddy is 

 extracted from the spadix, and from this product other 

 materials (as sirup, sugar and vinegar) are made. 

 Kernel hard and white, edible. N. fruticans, Wurmb., 

 is a most useful plant in the thatch-making in the 

 Philippines (Figs. 1993, 1994, Vol. Ill), but it is proba- 

 bly not cult, to any extent. It has been intro. in S. 

 Fla. L. H. B. 



2483. Nolana paradoxa. 

 (XH) 



NIPIL35A (Greek, niphos, snow; alluding to the white 

 color of the fls., which is not usual in this family). Ges- 

 neracex. Tropical American stemless or dwarf soft- 

 villous herbs, with cordate, coarsely serrate Ivs. and 

 clusters of about a dozen fls. an inch or so across, borne 

 singly on reddish stalks. For general cult, they are 

 inferior to gloxinia and achimenes, but they are desira- 

 ble for botanical collections. They have a creeping root, 

 and no tubers: Ivs. wrinkled, petiolate, opposite: corolla 

 nearly wheel-shaped; disk absent; stamens 4 or 5; 

 filaments short, straight; anthers erect, free, the cells 

 facing inward, parallel, confluent at the apex. Species 

 2, Guatemala and Cuba. 



ob!6nga, Lindl. Height 1 ft.: Ivs. heart-shaped or 

 perhaps somewhat oblong, more or less whorled, 

 petioled and cordate at base, strongly serrate, hir- 

 sute and rugose: fls. drooping, winter; corolla about \ l /z 

 in. across, pure white, on slender reddish peduncles; 

 lobes roundish, concave at first, then revolute. Guate- 

 mala. B.R. 28:5. H.U. 5, p. 301. L. H. B. 



NIPHOBOLUS. A name once in rather general use 

 but now replaced by Cydophorus, which see. 



NITRARIA (Latin nitrum, natron; in reference to its 

 habitat in nitrous soil). Zygophyllacese. NITERBUSH. 

 Four low rigid shrubs distributed from S. Russia to 

 Mongolia, W. China and Persia and through Asia 

 Minor to Arabia and N. Afr., with alternate small 

 fleshy, entire or dentate, stipulate Ivs. and with small 

 white or yellowish green fls. in terminal cymes followed 

 by berry-like drupes: calyx 5-parted, fleshy; petals 5, 

 concave; stamens 15; ovary superior, conic-oblong, 

 attenuated into a very short style with 3 connivent 

 stigmas, 2-6-celled: fr. an ovoid drupe with a sculp- 

 tured 1 -seeded stone dehiscent at the apex; cotyledons 

 often 3. The following species is sometimes cult, in 

 European botanic gardens and has been intro. recently 

 by the Dept. of Agric. into this country and recom- 

 mended as a sand-binder for cooler semi-arid regions; 

 its fleshy fr. is edible. Prop, by seeds and by layers. It 

 is of difficult cult, under ordinary conditions, as it is, 

 like most desert plants, impatient of too much moisture 

 and seedlings particularly are liable to damp off. It 

 grows well in saline and alkaline soils; in ordinary soil 

 an application of salt is recommended to grow it suc- 

 cessfully. 



Schdberi, Gmel. Spiny rigid shrub, to 6 ft., with 

 whitish branches: Ivs. obovate-oblong to linear-spatu- 

 late, obtuse or sometimes acutish, entire, thickish, 

 silky while young, finally usually glabrous, ^-%in. 

 long: fls. white, about M m - across, in stalked terminal 

 cymes about 1 in. across; petals spatulate-oblong; 

 stamens about as long as petals: fr. purple or blackish 

 violet, rarely yellow, about Kin- long. June; fr. in Sept. 

 and Oct. From S. Russia to Mongolia, W. China and 

 Persia. L.B.C. 14:1395. By the Dept. of Agric. the 

 plant was intro. from Turkestan as N. retusa, but N. 

 retusa, Aschers., is a native of Syria, Arabia and N. Afr. 

 and easily distinguished by its broadly obovate Ivs. 

 usually 3-toothed at the apex. ALFRED REHDER. 



NITROGEN. The r61e of nitrogen in horticulture is 

 discussed under Fertility, Fertilizers, Legumes, Lime and 

 Manures. 



NOLANA (from nola, a little bell; refer- 

 ring to the shape of the corolla). Nolan- 

 aceae. Prostrate annual herbs with showy 

 blue flowers opening only in sunshine, 

 valued chiefly for covering poor or rocky 

 places. 



Stem often slightly angulate, usually 

 spotted and streaked with purple above, 

 glabrous or viscid - pubescent, much 

 branched, the ends of the branches ascend- 



